Made in Heaven
by Keiran
Summary: Finished Fluff, on a distant, barely noticeable, angst background. It would have been an angsty tale of a forbidden relationship, if Duo hadn’t died before it could begin. Merry Christmas!
1. Enjoy, with Compliments

Author: Keiran  
Title: Made in Heaven 1/1?  
Rating: PG  
Genre: Humour with a spot of angst and hopefully future romance.  
Pairings: implied suggestion of future 1+2+1  
Warnings: implied future shounen-ai.  
Archive: Yes, to anyone who asks.  
Notes: Naturally, when I wanted to rest from typing after having finished a nearly 5,000 words assignment, I sat down in front of keyboard and typed all the following, in one go.

Thanks to the Amazing Shenlong Deb, for betaing!

xxxXXXxxx

It was a quiet December night, and most of the world was still, in vigilant anticipation of Christmas. The steady flash of the TV screen cast a light on a figure resting on the couch. Suddenly though, the stillness was broken by a sharp yelp. The man was up in the blink of an eye, jumping over the couch and into the room his daughter slept in. Pushing the door open, he stepped inside, the words 'What happened' already forming on his lips.

However, the sight that met his tired eyes made him stop in his tracks.

Rubbing his face wearily, Heero casually picked up a children's version of a baseball bat.

"I do not think you have a good reason to be here, so please kindly step out of the room. I would hate to beat you to death in front of my baby girl," he said calmly, addressing the stranger in the middle of the floor. The figure cast a forlorn glance at him and tried to stand, immediately falling with a startled – but quiet – yelp.

"Sorry," he whispered, as softly as possible. "I seem to have twisted my ankle." Heero rolled his eyes.

"Serves you right. Now quiet and out. I'm phoning the police and you stay put," he said, withdrawing only slightly so that the limping burglar could walk out. After throwing a quick glance inside to ensure that Marie was safe, he closed the door and directed the stranger into the living room, noting absent-mindedly the long rope of hair, rocking left and right in the rhythm of its owner's uneven footsteps. "Sit down," the short-haired man ordered, pointing to the floor with the bat. "And keep your hands where I can see them."

"Wait, don't phone the police!" the young man – for it was a young man – exclaimed softly. "I'm not a burglar!" Heero gave him a look.

"I don't give a flying fuck. You were in my daughter's room in the middle of the night."

"Look – I know you're gonna flip – but your daughter lost a baby tooth today, right?" Heero paused and turned to look. After a few seconds he thoughtfully snapped the bat against his palm.

"You know… maybe I will trash you. And say you were aggressive," he hissed. What was really scary, was the fact that his face remained totally impassive, retaining however the slightly thoughtful look. "If you ever again try spying on us…"

"That's not what I meant! Holy fuck, this day just went to hell. I'm a Tooth Fairy, alright?" he said very quickly, looking up at the angry man of the house pleadingly.

Heero was stupefied. It escaped his understanding, the situation he suddenly found himself in. He stood there unmoving, gazing down at the unexpected house guest. He had to admit, kid didn't look like a burglar. He was wearing a set of garments he would expect to see at some sort of Anime convention, not on the street and most certainly not on a criminal. The outfit consisted of a dark, turtleneck and shorts, covered by violet, embroidered jacket, that vaguely resembled a short kimono. It was tied at the waist with a wide belt, a shade or two darker than the jacket. However the most un-burglary item he was, or rather wasn't wearing, was shoes. For some reason the kid's feet were only covered in some sort of fabric, leaving his heels and toes bare.

All in all…

"Maybe you are right," he said, sitting on a nearby chair heavily. "I won't call the police." The youth on the floor awarded him a brilliant smile, as Heero pressed a button on the laptop located on the table.

"Wow, that's a relief. This is so embarrassing, you have no idea. I mean, I finished the course with top-notch grades, I dunno what's happened – I normally float in, take the tooth and float out, and if there is serious clutter on the floor I either walk through it or hover over it, but this time it was as if something was **blocking** me, can you believe that? I was told no one can block another this much! Except possibly God, but why would He bother with blocking me?"

"That's nice," Heero remarked absently. Having pulled up Google, he immediately typed in their approximate location and 'psychiatric hospital'. He was hoping they worked late hours. In the meantime, he recalled vaguely, he had to agree with the kid's fantasy life.

"Hey!" he heard suddenly in the general vicinity of his ear. Turning a little he noted that despite the threat of the bat the burglar had stood up. "I did not escape from a mental institution! I **am** a Tooth Fairy!"

"Of course you are," Heero replied, acutely aware that his soothing voice wouldn't soothe a sleeping elephant. Good thing Marie preferred hugs to comforting comments. He looked the other man in the face, making yet another note of the unusually vibrant violet of his eyes. "I am sure you are," he tried again, hoping to hell that the mental delusions extended to thinking that all people were friendly and unthreatening. "But I need to check what should I do with that leg of yours."

The boy obviously didn't buy it, because a few megawatts of burning violet gaze later, Heero found himself face-to-face with the man's slender back. It took a moment before his eyes tuned into what the mind would block out normally.

There were four transparent, quivering appendages, seemingly on nothing, as the back of the jacket seemed whole. Before he could voice a comment, they fluttered and the nearly bare feet lifted a couple of inches off the floor.

"See?" the boy commented, a little affronted. "Wings, standard Fairy issue. But damn, I can't seem to get any higher. I got an additional pair 'cause I'm an Applying Fairy. Doesn't happen very often to be chosen to Apply so soon," he finished, a trace of pride in his voice.

Heero was sitting in his chair, his fingers hovering over the laptop's touch pad, the cursor hovering over the first link. His eyes kept getting steadily wider. With shaking hands he snapped the lid shut and turned to follow the fairy's movements, doing what every sensible person would do when faced with undeniable proof that everything he was taught was bullshit.

"Applying?" Heero asked weakly about first thing that seemed a little weirder than what was in front of his eyes.

"Well, normally you have to be a Tooth Fairy for a quarter of a century before you're allowed to Apply," the man said happily, glad that the bat was away from his immediate future. "And I died about four months ago. Nasty it was too, let me tell you. Hurt like hell. And then I ended up in front of the Powers that Be and they said that I could become an Angel of Death for real – oh, right, you wouldn't know. I used to say I am a god of death when I was alive, for personal reasons. So they said that because I died to protect someone, I could become an Angel of Death for real!" his demeanour saddened visibly, shoulders sagging.

"Then… why are you the Tooth Fairy?" Heero said, his voice sounding pathetically weak even to his own ears. Boy, if he ever sounded like that in front of his class, he would be dead meat!

"A Tooth Fairy. There's a whole bunch of us. It's a standard procedure, working as a Tooth Fairy, or a Fairy in general. They say it teaches us humility and respect." The fairy shook his head. "But they said that 'cuz of my background I only have to serve ten years, getting used to the trade and all. The name's Duo Maxwell by the way."

Ah. Duo Maxwell. The name rung a bell in Heero's head. He was supposed to be in his class come September, but the eighteen-year-old had been stabbed to death by two thugs in a back alley, trying to protect his girlfriend.

"Oh." Well, there wasn't much one could say to such a realization, was there? "I'm sorry." Duo blinked.

"For what? I like that name."

"You were supposed to be in my class this year," he said slowly. The violet eyes blinked very fast a couple of times. Then his shoulders sagged and he dropped to the floor, forgetting about his injured ankle.

Bad mistake.

With a yelp the Fairy toppled to the floor and got caught mid-motion by his would-have-been teacher.

"Sorry," the man said, a little mad at himself. "I'm not very sensitive."

"Gee, you think?" the boy muttered sarcastically, sitting on his heels.

"Let me have a look at that ankle," he suggested, hauling the supernatural creature to the couch. Examining the foot, he decided it was merely twisted, and therefore did not require medical attention. Fetching frozen peas from the kitchen, he secured them to Duo's foot with a piece of elastic bandage. "Lie down," he said gruffly. "And call home, or whatever you fairies do in an emergency." Duo glared at him, but the expression dissipated fast.

"This is soo annoying! How come I managed to twist the bloody thing! It was as if something tripped me on purpose!" He continued moaning about his bad luck, informing Heero a minute or two into the show that since he technically did not have a body and couldn't get hurt, there was no emergency procedure. He couldn't quite explain why his skin felt so **real** to Heero.

Shaking his head, the man set about finding bedding for his guest. "A Tooth Fairy," he muttered to himself. "How the hell did **that** happen?" Returning from his room with an armful of cloth, he accidentally got hooked on the cloak rack, sending Marie's red jacket onto the floor. Cursing silently to himself he moved his load to one hand, snatching up the garment with the other. Hanging it back on the rack, Heero noticed a piece of paper sticking out of one pocket. Hoping he wouldn't have to repeat the lecture on bringing home handouts (since Marie put all the important documents in her backpack) he took it out and unfolded it.

'Daer Santa,' he read with some difficulty. The letter was written with her favourite purple pencil, Heero noted. 'Pleaze bring my dady a momy plushie to sleep with, coz he'z lonelely in nite and waches much tv and a doll for me. Marimaia'

Leaning weakly against the wall, Heero regarded the letter with a panicked gaze. There was a Tooth Fairy on his couch. His daughter asked for a 'plushie' for him to sleep with in her letter to Santa.

He suddenly realized that the Powers that Be had a sick sense of humour. This night was proving to be the weirdest night of his life; the one he proposed to his ex-wife included.

"Welcome to the Twilight Zone," Heero said softly, walking back into the living room. The boy was asleep already, one of his hands tucked under his cheek. "This is the weirdest night of my life," he said aloud, covering the sleeping boy with a blanket. As he did so he noticed a strip of something white under Duo's belt. Tugging gently, he managed to release the small, sealed envelope with his name written on it. Snickering at the 'Made in Heaven' tag he found right next to where it was tucked, he tore the paper.

A few seconds later, he dropped the slip of paper to the floor in shock.

'My Sincere Apologies For The Delay. Enjoy.

With compliments,

God,

Executive Chairman and Founder of Heaven Inc.'

* * *


	2. Terms and Conditions

Author: Keiran  
Title: Made in Heaven: Terms and Conditions 1/1  
Rating: 10+  
Warnings: shounen-ai, a loose take on religion, God and Christmas.  
Pairing: 1+2+1  
Genre: romance, fluff.

Notes: This is a sequel to "Made in Heaven", updated as a chapter cause it cannot quite stand alone.

Thanks to Shenlong Deb, for betaing!

xxxXXXxxx

Christmas cheer hovered in the air. Heero, from his position on the couch, glared at it, with all his might. The local personification of Christmas cheer beamed right back at him. "Lighten up, teach! We're almost finished here anyway, look how pretty the tree is!"

Muttering something vaguely obscene about 'bloody Tooth Fairies', the blue-eyed man scowled at the – otherwise adorable – picture of his tiny daughter in the arms of said fairy, putting the final bulb on the Christmas tree. To the girl's delight, the two of them were hovering a few feet off the ground.

"Whatever I did to deserve this?" Heero muttered, smacking his forehead. It had been over a week since he had found the unfortunate supernatural element in his daughter's bedroom. Along with a note signed by God Himself, proclaiming that the attachment (the fairy) was his Christmas present. Life just couldn't get any weirder.

Of course, he hadn't been all that quick to believe it. In his world Tooth Fairies had no place. Thanks to the efficiency of his and Marie's morning routine, he had managed to ignore and erase the night before from his mind, and all was fine with the universe; until they had gotten back home.

The first thing that had greeted them was the smell of cookies. The recollection made Heero extend his hand and bring one of the aforementioned cookies to his mouth. He made a point of not losing the scowl as he munched. Granted, he continued thinking back, some of the cookies turned out to be burnt, some undercooked, and most misshapen, but Duo had grinned at the small family from under the thick coating of flour and dough as if the cookies were the greatest culinary achievement of the century.

Marie ignored the cookies anyway. She had been much more excited by the idea of a winged elf baking in her kitchen. Of course, just to keep everyone excited, Duo had chosen that exact moment to turn around (wings still fluttering and all, his ankle was, obviously, still hurting) and stick his naked palm into the oven.

Predictably, Heero had been forced to finish the cookies while Marie, beside herself with excitement and worry, had bandaged the pouting fairy, whose expression cried 'foul' louder than any words.

"Hey, Heero!" The man started as someone's hand waved in front of his face.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly. Honestly, supernatural creatures!

"My ankle is healed now, so I'm taking Marie to do some window-shopping. Is that okay?"

"And you're going to do what? Hover on the street? I don't have spare boots."

"Oh, clothes are not a problem," Duo waved his hand vaguely. He was wearing an undershirt and his shorts at the moment, but another vague wave later and his outfit seemed to melt on his slight form and reform as a more earthly set, appropriate for the wintry weather.

"That's so cool! How do you do that?" Marie bounced over and hugged Duo's waist like there was no tomorrow.

"I am a Fairy, after all. However embarrassing it seems now," he muttered under his breath. Heero refrained from snickering. After the first shock had passed, he had spent a good hour or so amusing himself with the thought of having an actual **Fairy** in the house.

A very attractive Fairy to boot.

Heero sighed to himself. He watched Duo poke Mariemaia lightly on the nose and help her put her coat on. The girl took to the other man immediately – it must have been the combination of flying, magic and the plain, old likeable quality Duo simply oozed. It was really, really hard not to like him.

Two hours later, when Duo and Marie finished their little excursion Heero was still sitting on the couch, pondering the existence of God (for which he had written proof now). He had never been particularly religious. He wasn't even an atheist. His religion was 'If I Ignore It, It's As If It's Not There'. Watching the happy face of his little girl and the grin on Duo's face however, the blue-eyed man decided that he just might start believing, and that he definitely liked the omnipotent cause for the existence of the universe.

xxxXXXxxx

T'was the night before Christmas, and Heero had absolutely no clue what had woken him. The alarm wasn't to ring until seven. Marie wouldn't be up until half eight, unless someone woke her. Stretching, he thought that since he wasn't asleep at 5.54 am, he might as well put the presents under the tree. His daughter did still believe in Santa Claus, after all.

And considering the recent developments, he had to admit she had a point.

He kicked the covers to the side and stretched again. His bed was too comfortable, really. He rolled to the edge and swung his legs over it. Hissing as his bare feet made contact with the cold floor, he stood up and located his slippers. He hated mornings for this very reason: warm feet and cold floors did not go well together.

Yawning widely, he opened his dresser and fished around for the bag with gifts. Ah, there it was. Several packages wrapped in red-and-gold with matching ribbons. More than one would think there should be, but guests were coming later on in the day. Heero stood up, the bag in hand, and made his way to the living room.

It was still dark outside, or rather it would have been dark, had it not been for the full moon. Heero was fond of the full moon. It gave everything a special kind of edge – things showed a whole new range of qualities under the light of the moon.

Take Duo for example. Sitting under the pale light, wrapped tightly in the blanket he was sleeping under, watching the street outside. His face had an expression Heero hadn't seen before – for once the lips that were always smiling were downcast, the twinkling pair of unusually coloured eyes lacked their gleam. For once, Duo did not exude the aura of happiness.

"Duo?" Heero ventured clumsily. Comforting people was not his forte. Duo forced a smile onto his face.

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"'Nothing' usually means you want to talk about it." Duo sighed.

"I'm just thinking. About Heaven."

"What about it?" Now Heero was curious. He had a chance to find out what Heaven was like, from someone who'd actually been there!

"I was just thinking how it was another place that didn't want me," Duo admitted softly. The blue-eyed man felt awkward. "I was an orphan, back then. A little hellion, they would call me. I lived in several orphanages, before they sent me to a church orphanage. It wasn't bad, not really. The priest cared for all of us, but well. I was too used to being on my own, too old to learn anything. As soon as I turned eighteen I was out of there. Then I met Hilde. And the funny thing was, she was the first person who seemed to want me around. I was the happiest I've ever been. And then I got myself killed. I don't regret it, not really," he added hastily, seeing Heero's eyes gain a pitying look.

"I still think saving someone you cared for is a good way to go," he continued. "I ended up in front of the Powers that Be, became a Tooth Fairy… And then, completely out of the blue, I get dropped into someone's home, blocked from Heaven."

Heero sighed and busied himself by arranging the presents under the tree. Joining Duo on the windowsill, he handed him quite a large package, tied with a golden ribbon.

"Merry Christmas," he said quietly. "I don't think God didn't want you there," he added, watching Duo hug the parcel to his chest in wonder. "I think He just-" 'Apologies for the delay' flashed through his head, "thought you might like it better here."

"You think so?" the violet-eyed young man asked. The street lights outside went out, one by one. The sky brightened ever so slowly, welcoming the first day of Christmas.

"I know so," Heero replied with utmost certainty. It was so easy to be certain with written proof, he mused. Duo smiled. Not the happy grin he always wore, but a **smile**.

Heero could swear he had never seen anything as beautiful in his life. He blamed the surprise for what happened next. Very slowly, watching for signs of fright (or flight), they moved towards one another. Closer and closer, until their lips met, and Heero promptly threw the running commentary out the window.

Who needed Heaven, when they could have this?

They parted reluctantly but did not move apart. Heero tugged the blanket around Duo open and leaned into the Fairy, making himself comfortable between the warm body and the cover. Duo shook his head and rested the present he'd been hugging on the other man's chest.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Heero asked, making an effort to look up.

"I can wait," he replied with a smile.

Outside the living room a little girl grinned to herself. All it took to make her daddy happy was one letter to Santa.

**THE END.**


End file.
